


Aquamarine

by Ink_stained_quills



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Getting Together, M/M, Oblivious Oikawa Tooru, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmates, iwaoi - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:54:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,823
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23251279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ink_stained_quills/pseuds/Ink_stained_quills
Summary: When you touch your soulmate, you’ll be able to see colors.  It’s the one certainty in the world, surer than breathing and the rhythm of your heart - because this isn’t something that can be stopped.  They’ll love you, because there isn’t anything else for them to do.Except, apparently, Oikawa Tooru is an exception.Tooru has always been able to see colors in brief snatches, though he didn’t know what that meant until he hit the third grade.
Relationships: Iwaizumi Hajime/Oikawa Tooru
Comments: 7
Kudos: 129





	Aquamarine

**Author's Note:**

> Heyyyyy guys! I wrote this all in one sitting today and I was up until 3:15 last night so who knows how good it is, but yolo
> 
> I literally never have beta readers, but I do have regrets
> 
> Song: Have I Told You by Matthew Mole

When you touch your soulmate, you’ll be able to see colors. It’s the one certainty in the world, surer than breathing and the rhythm of your heart - because this isn’t something that can be stopped. They’ll love you, because there isn’t anything else for them to do.

Except, apparently, Oikawa Tooru is an exception.

Tooru has always been able to see colors in brief snatches, though he didn’t know what that meant until he hit the third grade. 

~~~ 8 years old ~~~

“Do you know what a soulmate is, class?” Mr. Sanchez asks the assembled eight year olds. For most, it’s a formality: they’ve known all this since birth. Tooru’s parents, however, haven’t explained this to him yet. ‘Soulmate’ is a word thrown around his house with the ease of a feather, a comforting endearment his parents use and not much more. Until now.

“Well,” the man continues, “A soulmate is someone you’re destined to be with. Typically it’s romantic, though there are some that are friendship oriented. Touching them gives you the ability to see colors.”

“How do you know if it’s romanick or not?” questions Himari Ito, the girl sitting criss-cross-applesauce next to Tooru on the rug.

Mr. Sanchez smiles warmly at her. “If it’s romanTIC, you’ll be able to tell when you’re older, trust me. It’ll be something the two of you realize at the same time, even if it’s not right away.”

“What if you’ve seen colors already?” Tooru yelps, wiggling beside her. He doesn’t bother raising his hand.

“Woooah, Tooru-kun, you’ve seen it?” Himari exclaims, grabbing his arm. Her big sister is friends with Tooru’s, so they know each other from outside school as well. “How’s it look like?”

“My mom’s hair is brown,” Tooru announces proudly, beaming. 

“That’s… right,” Mr. Sanchez says with no small amount of surprise. “How did you discover this?”

“I dunno.” replies Tooru, unaffected. “It just kinda happens sometimes.”

His teacher grins and steers the lesson back on track with an encouraging “I hope you find out who it is. Now, any other questions?”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Hajime-kun hisses, attempting to poke Tooru in the back.

Tooru leans away from the offending finger, sticks his tongue out, and shrugs. “Didn’t know what it meant.”

Himari-chan taps a finger to her chin. “So, we should test everyone! Get everyone to touch you, ‘n see who it is!”

“Good idea!” chirps Tooru. Then all three children focus back onto the lesson, eager and excited for recess.

They patrol the schoolyard, making everyone shake hands with Tooru, but don’t end up finding whoever his soulmate is. In their haste, they neglect to test Himari and Hajime, but don’t think much of it.

~~~ 11 years old ~~~

The first of Tooru’s classmates finds her soulmate, and everyone squeals over it until both girls are blue in the face, embarrassed but pleased. He looks at them longingly, with their casual banter and the looks in their eyes, how they lean into each other and grin wide whenever their elbows brush. 

At one point, one of them pulls out their phone to take a picture, their cheeks pressed together. There’s renewed shrieking when they discover that the photo retains color (though only for them, and only if they could see in color while the picture was taken).

“That’s so cool,” Himari coos longingly, smushing her face between her hands. “Now they won’t have to go through high school brushing hands with everyone they meet in the hallways - Tooru-kun, Hajime-kun, what if my soulmate is someone like four years older and gross!”

“Four years isn’t that much, really,” Iwa-chan points out, but Himari-chan simply moans. 

She’s got a point, Tooru thinks, especially because they’re so young. Four years is like - uh, a third of their life so far! “You’ll love them anyways, I guess.”

“I suppose I will.” Himari processes, accepts, and moves on. “Still, I can’t wait to find them.”

“Me either,” Tooru sighs. Hajime-kun frowns, but Tooru assumes it’s just because he is twelve and uninterested in romance.

~~~ 13 years old ~~~

“Can I come over?”

“Yeah,” Tooru tells Hajime, blinking at the phone. “Yeah, what’s - is everything okay?” His voice sounds rough, like he’s been crying, and Tooru wants nothing more than to make that tired hopelessness in his voice go away.

Hajime sighs, just slightly. “They’re fighting. Again.”

“Isn’t that twice this week?”

“... Oikawa, do you think soulmates really…” There’s static over the line as Tooru waits anxiously. “Never mind.”

“Okay,” Tooru whispers, feeling like he’s failed a test he didn't know he was taking.

~~~ 15 years old ~~~

“Holy shit,” Himari breathes, an unopened letter clutched tightly in her hands. “I can’t believe it’s time.”

“I feel like I’ve been waiting forever!” Tooru exclaims, tucking his hands up to his chest so he doesn’t lurch forward and rip open his own envelope on the spot.

Hajime (the three of them have done away with honorifics, considering how long they’ve known each other - they’re like siblings, at this point.) holds his own with reverence. “On three.”

“One,” Himari chants.

“Two,” follows Tooru, closing his eyes.

“Three!” Hajime cries, and all three tear open their letters.

“Dear Tooru Oikawa,” Tooru reads, heart beating quickly. “We are pleased to accept -”

Hajime continues: “- you to our fine institution -”

“- and look forward to seeing you at freshman orientation.” Himari finishes, then looks up in shock. “All of us.”

“The streak continues!” Tooru yells, throwing his arms around his best friends. “We’re going to finish high school together!”

“There was never any doubt,” Hajime says, though clearly relieved, and Tooru’s arms tighten. Himari hugs him back, throwing her arms around the other two’s necks, and Tooru’s arm finds a small patch of skin where Hajime’s shirt doesn’t quite meet his pants.

Colors explode around him, brown for Hajime’s hair and tan skin, while Himari’s black hair and green shirt pops out. She’s got her face buried in Tooru’s neck, and Hajime’s eyes are closed as he laughs, and neither gives any indication they’ve seen something.

Just like every time this happens, Tooru doesn’t know who he’s responding to. And he doesn’t know why he’s the only one.

~~~ 17 years old ~~~

“Iwa-chan,” Tooru whispers, eyes adjusting to the dark. “You awake?”

They’re sleeping over at Himari’s house, something they’ve done since second grade, but once they’d hit junior high her parents had insisted boys and girls stay in different rooms. Which was fair, but still. Tooru and Hajime are settled into a guest bedroom, light having long since stopped trickling through the window.

Hajime rolls over onto his side. “Trying not to be.”

“Aw, Iwa-chan - it’s a bit too late for you to try beauty rest, don’t you think~?”

“Shut up,” Hajime grumbles, smacking him with the back of his hand. 

Tooru gasps as colors fly across the room for a single moment, then dissipate. “Can you see that?” 

“See what?”

His world crumbles quietly and definitively, and Tooru Oikawa closes his eyes. He doesn’t bother answering, and Hajime doesn’t ask again - the answer to Tooru’s question answered at last.

~~~ 18 years old ~~~

“We’re graduating soon,” Himari states.

Tooru nods, listless and sad. “We are indeed.”

“Going to different colleges,” she continues.

“We are indeed.”

Iwaizumi flips a pen back and forth over his fingers, staring out the window. They’re at Tooru’s house, trying to fit in some relaxing before final exams begin. “Himari, are you going somewhere with this or just depressing us?”

“Just… I know, okay?” Himari says, frustration pushing away the lethargy of upcoming graduation. “I’m going to get snacks.”

Then Tooru and Hajime are alone, and it’s not like they’re never been alone before. They’ve been alone since what Tooru has affectionately dubbed “The Catalyst”, even outside of volleyball (Himari does soccer, and debate, and countless other things). He’s sure they’ll be alone after this, too, but right now he’s reminiscing and feels sad.

“Found your soulmate yet?” Tooru asks acidically, irritation at unrequited feelings that HE SHOULDN’T EVEN BE ABLE TO HAVE pulsing in his chest shifting outwards. 

Hajime shuffles his feet, pausing his pen flipping for a moment before reversing the motion. “No.”

“Really,” Tooru seethes, “Well, I’m sure they’ll be thrilled when you figure it out. Upon meeting them, that is.”

“Oikawa.”

“What.”

Hajime gets up from his chair, walks closer, and tugs the sleeves of his jacket down to cover more skin. “You know finding a soulmate isn’t some kind of cure-all, right?”

“What do you mean?” Tooru stutters, lost for words. The soulmate system is supposed to be flawless, isn’t it?

“My parents are soulmates.” he starts, then hesitates.

“Of course,” parrots Tooru. “Soulmates are always -”

“There is no ‘always’ when it comes to soulmates, Tooru!” Hajime yells abruptly, pacing. “There’s no ‘always’ when it comes to anything, no sure path to take, alright? Sometimes you try your best, and it just falls apart anyway!”

Shock washes through Tooru, and he has to focus harder on breathing. “But isn’t it better to try?”

“I’d never risk ruining the most important thing I have on ‘try’,” Hajime says with conviction, clearly not thinking about the words before they’re spat from his mouth, and then puts a hand over his face. “Shit.”

“Hajime,” Tooru chokes out, and touches the back of his hand. Shades spiral out from the moment of contact, blowing his brown hair back, as if they’re pleased to be set free after so long. “You know I’ve seen everything about you, right? So I think, if you’ll have me, I’d like to see… what the world’s like… if I can see it with you instead of. Alone.”

Hajime takes his hand off his face. “I really want to.”

“”Do or do not, there is no try,”” Tooru quotes, and Hajime laughs wetly.

“You know,” the other boy says, “I never let myself look before.”

“It’s pretty.” Tooru whispers.

“Yeah,” Hajime replies, “it is.”

~~~ Bonus: 25 years old ~~~

“I mean, you guys were really dense for like three years there,” Himari declares, rolling her eyes. “Even in junior high, I was like: am I the only one who can see this? Yeah? Okay, thanks, universe, for blessing me with the dumbest best friends.”

“Rude,” Tooru sniffs, “It took you like two minutes to find your soulmate once you took your semester overseas, so heaven knows WHAT you were doing over there -”

Hajime elbows him, Himari shrieks indignantly as her boyfriend covers his face (he’s American), and the world pops in and out of color.

When you touch your soulmate, you’ll be able to see colors. It’s the one certainty in the world, surer than breathing and the rhythm of your heart - because this isn’t something that can be stopped. They’ll love you, because there isn’t anything else for them to do.

Except, apparently, Oikawa Tooru is an exception.

Soulmates, for him, aren’t a sure thing. But he’s going to fight to make sure it sticks.

**Author's Note:**

> tumblr: socially-acceptable-username


End file.
